Riley Keough Opens Up About Coping with Brother Benjamin's Death One Year Later

Riley Keough Instagram Benjamin and Riley Keough

Riley Keough is coping with the tragic death of her brother one moment at a time.

Speaking with InStyle in a Monday interview, the 32-year-old actress spoke about grieving the loss of her younger sibling, Benjamin Keough, who died by suicide in July 2020. He was 27.

"I'm really consciously trying to be present, and not use anything as any kind of escape, and be cognizant of when I'm doing that," Riley — who is Elvis Presley's granddaughter and Lisa Marie Presley's daughter — said.

"I'm just generally trying to be grateful for everything at the moment, trying to operate in love, and keep my heart open, and give and receive love," she continued. "And not in a woo-woo way, because I definitely have hard days, and all kinds of pain and suffering and all that.

"But I think when you realize that's part of it, and your expectation isn't to just be feeling joy, that's been a real shift for me in finding those moments and things to smile about," the Zola star stressed.

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RELATED: Riley Keough Shares Photos and Video of Late Brother Benjamin — and Debuts Tattoo in His Honor

Benjamin died on July 12, 2020 in Calabasas, California. He's survived by his mother, father Danny Keough, Riley and twin sisters Finley and Harper, 12, whom Lisa Marie shares with ex-husband Michael Lockwood.

Riley mourned her brother's death with a touching tribute on Instagram last summer, writing, "I can't believe you've left me. Not you sweet Ben Ben. Anyone but you. I guess this is true heartbreak. I hope we meet again."

Musician Brandon Howard — who was a good friend of Benjamin — previously told PEOPLE that he felt pressure being part of the famous Presley family.

"That kind of pressure is definitely a part of what happened," he said at the time. "It's a tough thing when you have a lot of pressure with your family and living up to a name and an image. It's a lot of pressure."

RELATED VIDEO: Lisa Marie Presley Opened Up About Being 'Ferociously Protective' of Her Kids in 2014 Interview

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Since Benjamin's death, Riley has honored her late brother in numerous ways, including getting his name tattooed on her collarbone. In March, the Mad Max: Fury Road actress also revealed that she completed training to become a death doula.

"Today I finished my Death Doula training, on The Art of Death Midwifery training course by @sacred_crossings so I guess I'm an almost certified death doula now hehe," she wrote on Instagram. "And I just felt like writing such a deep thank you to this community who are teaching and training people in conscious dying and death work."

Magdalena Wosinska

Riley went on to muse about the stigma surrounding such practices, writing, "We are taught that its [sic] a morbid subject to talk about. Or were [sic] so afraid of it that we're unable to talk about it... then of course it happens to us, and we are very ill prepared.

"I think it's so important to be educated on conscious dying and death the way we educate ourselves on birth and conscious birthing," she continued. "We prepare ourselves so rigorously for the entrance and have no preparation for our exit. So I'm so grateful for this community and to be able to contribute what I can."

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.